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1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to weed removing tools, specifically tools that grip weeds near the ground and utilize some mechanism to extract gripped weeds, including the underlying root system.
2. Problems to Overcome and Inefficiencies of Prior Art
Invasive plant species ruin the biological diversity of wildlands, and diminish the productivity of croplands and rangelands. One attempted remedy to this problem is to cut the weeds off at ground level. Many prior art tools do this; some on a massive scale like dozers and mowers, but cutting weeds down often does not cure the problem. Land cleared by cutting can be reinfested with weeds growing from the thriving root systems left behind. Oftentimes, cutting makes land productivity worse because the same weeds regrow, crowding out any desired plant growth, while also leaving dangerous stumps that can trip humans or damage livestock""s hooves.
Herbicides and controlled burns are also utilized in destroying weeds, but these methods have drawbacks. There are many legalities to research before application, and oftentimes a permit is required. The costs can be prohibitive with permits, expensive chemicals, and costly safety equipment. Many invasive plant species are resistant to these methods, multiplying the costs with multiple applications. Environmental concerns rank among the strongest reasons not to use herbicides or land burning. Oftentimes, desired species are indiscriminately killed. Humans, wildlife, and livestock can have ill effects from these methods as well, due to contaminated air and food supplies. Herbicides can also have unknown toxic effects limiting the agricultural productivity of the land.
The best solution is to remove a weed along with its underlying root system, preventing further regrowth. In the past, this meant physically bending over to get the best hold near the ground, grabbing the weed-stalk or clump of weed-stalks by hand, and pulling up. Hand-pulling weeds is prohibitively fatiguing for large stands of dense weed growth, working at awkward angles against well-fortified root systems. Hand-pulling is also undesirable for weeds with thorns, requiring one to wear gloves and other protective clothing in the close proximity of the thorns. Some weeds are just too large to remove by hand and require mechanical assistance.
Consequently, inventors created several types of tools to remove weeds along with a corresponding root system, but nevertheless all prior art weed removal tools suffer from at least one of the following disadvantages:
(a) The tool makes no use of leverage to pull up forcibly against the well-fortified root system. This is just as straining as hand-pulling is on the knees, shoulders and back.
(b) There is no mechanical assistance available to hold or release a weed, requiring one to forcibly hold a mechanism closed to continue holding a weed. This tires arms, wrists and hands unnecessarily.
(c) Using the tool is not ergonomical, requiring one to bend at the waist or squat down, close to the weed to apply a grip, or one needs to repeatedly apply pressure to a lever, switch, or manual setting. If the tool relies extensively on human muscle power, it is impractical in long-term use for reasons of fatigue and musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive motion.
(d) Human effort or extra steps are required to dislodge a weed from the tool itself, before the tool can be used on another weed.
(e) The tool can only be used on a weed of a certain size or of a particular form. This tool is ineffective on the uncooperative tangles of weeds found in the field. Weeds only rarely grow identical in form and evenly spaced from one another.
(f) Many of these tools must be fabricated in only one size to accommodate for human use, as they do not work correctly in alternate sizes.
(g) The tool requires one to stand unreasonably close to a weed, because it only works vertically, increasing the chance of toppling a thorned weed onto one""s self.
(h) The tool removes a significant amount of soil with the extracted weed, leaving one the extra task of filling holes in. These holes can be dangerous to any person or animal stepping in one, as well as unsightly.
In accordance with the present invention, a weed-gripping pry tool comprises a gripping jaw that closes when a fulcrum protrusion is pressed against a surface, and a handle used to pry the entire gripping structure, including the weed held, away from the surface.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are:
(a) to provide leverage to help the one extracting weeds and the corresponding root system, saving the user""s muscles and joints from fatigue and injury,
(b) to grip the weed or weeds mechanically and automatically, so one need only exert pressure downwards on a handle to grip the weed or weeds, as well as pry up the weed or weeds,
(c) to allow application of the tool from an upright, ergonomical position, with no excessive bodily force required so one can use the tool comfortably for long periods of time,
(d) to release the weed as necessary, so the one using the tool need not waste time or force, allowing the tool to quickly release and secure a new grip quickly,
(e) to easily adapt to weeds of differing size and form and penetrate thick masses of weeds, because of a V-shaped gripping jaw that can grip weeds anywhere inside the jaw, thereby grabbing large weed stalks in the wide part of the gripping jaw, and small weeds deep within the jaw where it is narrow,
(f) to allow any size tool be made, from a one handed model up to any size, even mounted on the back of a machine to pull out large trees or stumps,
(g) to provide one a reasonable distance from a weed for the tool to work, so one need not be nudged by thorns or sharp branches, afforded because the handle runs in line with the axis about which each tong rotates,
(h) to remove little or no soil along with the extracted weed, freeing one from filling in unnecessary holes.
Further objects and advantages are to easily compress a forceful grip at the base of a weed or weed clumps, and easily, conveniently, and ergonomically force a weed up. This tool is simple in construction and operation as well as inexpensive to manufacture and requires virtually no maintenance.